He claims that the Prime Minister has delegated more responsibility to the provinces out of a deliberate move to weaken the public health care system, which would open to doors to greater for-profit privatization,

To say, ‘Goodbye and good luck’ could be the beginning of the end of a reformed modern-day functioning health care system.

If that argument is advanced, we have a prescription for a patchwork-quilt series of programs by the provincial governments based on their fiscal capacity.

It will mean more privatization in more provinces, or some combination of private and public. It will be a very much weakened fabric of national unity without Mr. Harper’s direct involvement.

The effects of these changes could be so far reaching as to threaten national unity and Canadian identity,

This is a very big turning point in the making of the federation…

There’s a question here of federalism and Canadian citizenship. Do we want to have the possibility of disparate regions in the country?

This is a question now of how you build the country. It’s federalism. It’s Canadian unity. And programs such as medicare define what it means to be a Canadian.

The changes were made despite the promises in the Conservative Party of Canada’s 2011 platform to support universal health care and work collaboratively with the provinces.

The Premiers will be meeting in Victoria next week to discuss health care further.

About This Site

Canadian Health Law contains updates and articles about the intersection of health and law in Canada. It is written and edited entirely by professionals who work in this area.
The site is edited by Omar Ha-Redeye.
For any comments or concerns, please email him at Omar at FleetStreetLaw dot Com.

Contributors

Alexander Rozine is an associate at Barapp Law, a personal injury firm located in Toronto.

John Greiss obtained his pharmacy and law degrees at the University of Alberta. His current interests surround pharmaceutical and healthcare law in Ontario and Canada.